Ignite Excellence Foundation •  Success to Significance Conference •  Profiles  •  Testimonial

Ignite Excellence Foundation

"The biggest problem in Africa today is not AIDS, poverty, disease, education, or urbanization; the biggest problem is LEADERSHIP. When moral leaders with integrity and justice arise, then Africa's problems will be solved", said Dr. Douglas Carew, Vice Chancellor of the Africa International University.

Suzanne F. Stevens, President & Founder of Ignite Excellence, was among a group of business women who heard this message when she spent two months working with women leaders in Nairobi, Kenya, in January 2007.

In addition to being affected by the harsh realities of life in Africa, Suzanne heard the cry from many of the leaders of tomorrow - The Africa International University students. They needed to learn how to develop influential presentation skills to raise funds and influence positive change. Over the past few years, Suzanne has been to Kenya on extended visits to empower students and leaders. She shares the skills required to influence leaders, communities, students, and the government in order to elevate their communities, country, and continent.

Suzanne has coached many Masters and PhD students to raise both awareness and funds for a variety of initiatives. The initiatives close to their hearts included:

• Teaching people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo how to farm
• Getting commercial sex workers off the streets
• Bringing other leaders to their schools
• Improving the school system
• Feeding their families nutritiously
• Educating orphans
• Lobbying to build homes
• Taking responsibility for Africa and its actions
• Creating awareness of injustices
• Eliminating political up-rising

Success to Significance Conference: Women Elevating Women
November 22, 2010

The Ignite Excellence Foundation created the Success to Significance Conference - Women Elevating Women. This fund-raising conference will be held in Toronto, in November 22, 2010. All the proceeds of the event will be donated to build the Leah Ngini Community Centre at the Africa International University (AIU) in Nairobi, Kenya and provide scholarships to prospective women leaders.

The Centre will educate, prepare, and inspire women by providing them with the tools to blaze new African frontiers. The scholarships will give women access to higher education and the opportunity to graduate with Masters or PhD degrees. This education will prepare them for leadership roles for their community, country, and continent.

Why Africa?

We make a difference at home, and that impact can be significant. By making a difference in Africa, you can help make positive change in the lives of millions.

Nelson Mandela said that "the greatest weapon against injustice is education".

AIU is an investment in one of the greatest sources of hope for Africa's future - higher education with a purpose.

Students from all over Africa congregate at AIU to gain their higher education. Suzanne F. Stevens has personally had the pleasure of training individuals in Influential Communications at AIU. In one session, 17 African countries were represented.

Africa International University is in the process of launching a business BA program in entrepreneurship and micro-finance outreach that will produce a generation of social entrepreneurs who will create jobs and change nations. These programs will empower Africa to dictate its own future through education.

It is widely appreciated that women are the change agents of Africa. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families and community, compared to only 30 to 40 percent reinvested by men. (source: Phil Borges, Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World [New York: Rizzoli, 2007], 13)

Institutions that conduct micro-finance programs often invest in women as they customarily pay back the investment on time. Similarly, by investing in women as leaders is an investment in their power within their society and it will pay dividends. You will not only make a difference, you will see the difference. Research in developing countries has shown a consistent relationship between better infant and child health and higher levels of schooling among mothers. (source: George T. Bicego and J. Ties Boerma, "Maternal Education and Child Survival: A Comparative Study of Survey Data from 17 Countries", Social Science and Medicine 36 (9) [May 1993])

The best investment in Africa is investing in Women as Leaders. This requires an investment in their higher education, as this is where African women can make a difference in the short-term.

Leah Ngini says it best: "If you educate a woman, you educate a nation; if you educate a man, you educate a man! We must train our women. Women are the ones who hear the children cry."

Leah is part of a legacy of women who were committed to education. Her grandmother ran away from her village so that she could go to school, at a time when girls were not considered worth educating. Her mother made sure that Leah was able to go to school. She was the first woman to serve on the Board of Governors of the Africa International University. Her continued commitment to seeing women succeed drew her to the vision of AIU, a college seeking to train leaders with integrity and veritas. Although she is presently retired from the Board, the college considers her an ambassador for the school and its vision. This is why the new Leah Ngini Community Centre is being named in her honour.

The hope is that the Leah Ngini Community Centre will break ground in 2011. This will be a unique Centre that will not only focus on developing women leaders, but also on dealing with some of the prominent issues facing women in daily African life: poverty counseling; early childhood education, post trauma counseling, HIV/AIDS awareness training; starting businesses.

Last year, 33 women received their Masters or PhD degrees - the highest number of women graduating from the Africa International University. More and more women are taking the lead. The more we help, the more impact they will have.

The Ignite Excellence Foundation will be hosting a conference of leading Canadian women business speakers to inspire, challenge, and motivate other business women. It will be a day of education, perspective and leadership. Women who want to further develop leadership skills will hear some of the top Canadian speakers challenge them and inspire them to act.

In 2010, there will be a group of men and women climbing Kilimanjaro to raise money for the Leah Ngini Community Centre and scholarships. If you would like to participate or receive more information, please contact Ruth Douglas, President of News Canada, at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ignite Excellence Foundation Scholarship Recipients 

Mrs. Lucia Atoyebi of Nigeria

Mrs. Lucia Atoyebi is studying for a Master of Arts Degree in Education. She is married to Peter, and a mother of four grown children. Lucia and Peter have come to Kenya after working for 14 years in Cameroon. During that time, they started schools, established local churches, started programs for women in prisons, developed a program to meet monthly with wives to encourage them, and developed an inter-denominational program for women. Lucia, who has an undergraduate degree in education, has worked tirelessly for many years to enable and empower women in their local context. “When women are well equipped, there is nothing that can stop us.”  - Lucia Atoyebi

Mrs. Mary Nthamari Odhiambo of Kenya

An enthusiastic and self-motivated woman, Mary is a self-starter and entrepreneur. Mary's spiritual grounding means that she works with integrity and supports activities that empower people. She seeks to use her business acumen and teaching experience to train and empower small-business people. Married to George Ogalo, she has two small boys - Cato and Mark.

In February 2007, Suzanne Stevens of Ignite Excellence, traveled to Nairobi, Kenya with a group of Canadian executives. As part of Suzanne's gift toward leadership development in Africa, Suzanne did a presentation to the student community and leaders at our Masters level college. It was impressive to the faculty how quickly Suzanne was able to identify many cultural nuances, pick up on them and uses them for powerful persuasion and effective communication.

The students still talk today about that event over a year ago. Some of them feel their skills in persuasive communication have been enhanced forever. I know that Suzanne has received notes of thanks from many of them. The word on campus is, "When will Suzanne Stevens come back and do that again for those of us who weren't there?"

We have often had guest lecturers and speakers visit our international college from all over the world. The unique thing about Suzanne was her innate ability to quickly identify how a particular community works, figure out how to craft communication to be effective in that context and then show students how to use those skills.

We were privileged to have Suzanne with us.

Sincerely,

Lois Shaw
International Institutional Development - Kenya